Physical:Asia’s Mongolia Winter Special – What “Welcome to Mongolia” Actually Shows

After the intense finale of Physical: Asia, the story continues with a winter travel spin-off:

Physical: Welcome to Mongolia—a short series where Team Mongolia hosts their Korean teammates through a trip built around local experiences, outdoor challenges, and Mongolian culture.

It’s not a “best-of tourist attractions” montage. The show’s premise is simple: Mongolia leads, Korea follows—and the itinerary is curated by the Mongolian team to feel local, personal, and physical.

Episode vibe: Winter Ulaanbaatar, then out into the countryside

1) Ulaanbaatar scenes: arrival energy + city stops

The early portion is grounded in Ulaanbaatar, where the cast reunites, meets fans, eats Mongolian food and leans into everyday city culture rather than “remote wilderness survival.”

One of the clearest on-screen cultural moments: the group visits the State Department Store, shops for items, and tries on outfits—very “real trip” energy, not staged folklore.

2) Mini Quest and outdoor challenges: archery as the physical centerpiece

A major “this is Physical:Asia” moment comes with the First Mini Quest: an individual archery challenge (framed as “Aim for the Target”), set across Mongolia’s winter countryside.

This is important because it matches the show’s identity: physical focus + friendly rivalry, but in a travel format. Learning Mongolian Archery is a popular day activity on the Explorer.Company Mongolia tours for interested travelers. An advanced challenge is an archery lesson on a horse like Mike did on his visit.

3) Countryside experiences: riding, animals, and winter landscapes

The show also includes countryside travel with time on animals (including camels), plus winter landscape scenes that emphasize Mongolia’s scale and cold without turning it into a pure survival documentary. Exploring Mongolia’s wildlife, the horses and animals of the nomadic families is an unforgettable highlight when traveling to Mongolia in winter. Learning about how animals and nomads cope with the cold temperatures is very interesting. You can even reach some tribes like Tsaatan reindeer herders and yak herders in the far north only in winter by car as you can drive over frozen lakes, swamps and rivers to their habitat. Checkout explorer Otgoo’s Mongolia winter self drive tour to the Tsaatan.

What makes this Mongolia special (and why it works on screen)

A travel show with “athlete chemistry”

Because the cast comes from a competition background, even small activities—archery, riding, challenges—carry real stakes and banter. It feels like a team trip you’d actually want to join, not a scripted tour.

“Locals hosting” instead of “visitors consuming”

Multiple outlets and Netflix’s own framing emphasize that the trip is led by Team Mongolia and built around local-style travel experiences—the kind of places and activities locals choose, not just what tourists usually see.

Explorer.Company take: How we’d build a “Physical:Asia-style” winter itinerary in Mongolia

If the show made you want to experience Mongolia in winter, the replicable core isn’t “go extreme.” It’s:

• Ulaanbaatar first (food, markets, city texture)
• Day trips into snowy countryside
• Hands-on cultural activity with a physical element (archery-style challenges)
• Comfort + authenticity (warm bases, hot meals, real local hosting)

That’s exactly the structure Explorer.Company uses for winter programs: keep it real, keep it safe, keep it unforgettable.